Before the country became independent on 5 June 2006, entries from Serbia had participated in the contest as part of Yugoslavia and later Serbia and Montenegro. Six Yugoslavian entrants in the contest came from the former SR Serbia (1961, 1962, 1974, 1982, 1991, and 1992), and one of Serbia and Montenegro's entrants came from the former Republic of Serbia (2004).
History
2000s
Serbia made its debut in the contest as an independent nation with the ballad "Molitva" by Marija Šerifović. "Molitva" won the 2007 contest, receiving 268 points, making Serbia the first country to win with a debut entry after Switzerland's win at the first edition. Subsequently, Serbia was host of the 2008 contest in its capital Belgrade.
The second Serbian entry, performed in Belgrade was written by past entrant for Serbia as part of Serbia and Montenegro and contest host Željko Joksimović. The song "Oro", an ethnic ballad, performed by Jelena Tomašević came 6th and received 160 points in the overall rankings.
In 2009, Serbia selected Marko Kon and Milaan to represent them in the second semi-final on 14 May. The duo failed to qualify for the final, marking it the first time Serbia failed to qualify for the final since the introduction of semi-finals.
2010s
In 2010, Milan Stanković was selected to represent the country in the contest with "Ovo je Balkan", an upbeat song with ethno elements, and is about a love story set in Belgrade. It qualified for the final and in the end achieved 13th place with 72 points. In 2011, Nina was selected with her 1960s inspired song, "Čaroban". She was accompanied with three other singers who would be dancing throughout the performance. In the semi-finals She performed 6th and qualified for the final. In the final, she performed 24th and achieved 14th place. After finishing second in 2004 when representing Serbia and Montenegro, Željko Joksimović returned to compete in 2012 with the song "Nije ljubav stvar". On the second semi-final he took second place, while he finished third in the final, below second-placed Russia and the winner, Sweden. Moje 3 represented Serbia in the 2013 contest in Malmö with the song "Ljubav je svuda". They would finish 11th in the first semi-final, therefore not qualifying for the final. This was the second time that Serbia did not qualify for the final. On 22 November 2013, RTS announced that it would not participate in the 2014 contest due to financial difficulties and a lack of available sponsorship for a potential Serbian entry.[1] They did, however, broadcast all three shows.
On 26 September 2014, it was reported that Serbia had decided to return to the 2015 contest to be held in Austrian capital, Vienna.[2] On 15 February 2015 Serbia chose their own representative in the TV show "Odbrojavanje za Beč". Odbrojavanje za Beč (English: Countdown for Vienna) was the national final organised by RTS in order to select the Serbian entry for the 2015 contest. The selection featured three songs composed by Vladimir Graić, the composer of Serbia's winning entry "Molitva" in 2007. Two of the songs were performed by established Serbian artists Bojana Stamenov and Aleksa Jelić, while one was performed by Danica Krstić, a new talent chosen by Graić through a scouting process. Bojana Stamenov was selected as the Serbian representative for Vienna through a 50:50 voting system, where both the audience and the jury voted for her song "Ceo svet je moj" (The whole world is mine) to represent Serbia in Austria. It was later announced that she would perform her song in English (a first for a Serbian entry) titled "Beauty Never Lies". Despite being low with the odds and fan votings, Bojana surprised everyone in the first semifinal and became one of the big press and fan favourites. She qualified to the final with 9th place in Semi-Final 1, but managed to achieve another top 10 result for Serbia in the Grand Final, scoring 53 points and the 10th place.
In March 2016, RTS internally decided for Sanja Vučić to represent Serbia in Stockholm, Sweden with the song "Goodbye (Shelter)".[3] In the 2016 contest, she performed in the second semi-final, qualifying through. In the grand final, Vučić placed 18th by scoring 115 points.[4] The following contest, Serbia was represented by Tijana Bogićević in Kyiv, Ukraine, again chosen by the national broadcaster.[5] She failed to qualify from the second semi-final by finishing 11th.[6]
In February 2018, Sanja Ilić and the world music group Balkanika were declared the winners of the returning Beovizija contest.[7] They performed in the second semi-final of the 2018 contest, hosted in Lisbon, Portugal. In the final, Sanja Ilić and Balkanika finished in 19th place with 113 points.[8] Subsequently, the Beovizija 2019 was won by Nevena Božović and "Kruna", who therefore represented Serbia in Tel Aviv, Israel.[9] Božović, who qualified from the first semi-final, scored 89 points in the final and thus placed 18th.[10]
2020s
On March 1, 2020, girl group Hurricane won Beovizija 2020 with "Hasta la vista" and were supposed to compete in Rotterdam, Netherlands.[11] The 2020 contest was, however, eventually cancelled due the COVID-19 pandemic. In December 2020, RTS selected Hurricane internally to represent Serbia in the 2021 contest.[12] Hurricane performed their new entry, "Loco loco", in the second semi-final, going through. In the final they went on to place 15th with 102 points.[13]
The following year, Beovizija was replaced by the newly-established national selection contest, Pesma za Evroviziju. The contest's first edition, held in March 2022, was won by Konstrakta and "In corpore sano", who was therefore chosen to represent Serbia in the 2022 contest, hosted in Turin, Italy.[14] Konstrakta qualified from the semi-final 2. In the final she placed 5th with 312 points.[15] "In corpore sano" became the most successful Serbian entry since 2012. Furthermore, Konstrakta also won the Artistic Marcel Bezençon Award and two Eurovision Awards - the Most Innovative Staging and the Best Lyrics.[16][17]
At the beginning of March 2023, RTS organized Pesma za Evroviziju '23, where Luke Black with "Samo mi se spava" was declared the winner and Serbian representative in Liverpool, United Kingdom.[18] In Liverpool, Luke finished in 24th place in the finals with 30 points.
Pesma za Evroviziju '24 was held to select the Serbian representative in 2024,[19] resulting as Teya Dora with the song "Ramonda". In Malmö, Teya finished in 17th place in the finals with 54 points.
Each participating broadcaster in the Eurovision Song Contest assigns a head of delegation as the EBU's contact person and the leader of their delegation at the event. The delegation, whose size can greatly vary, includes a head of press, the performers, songwriters, composers, and backing vocalists, among others.[25]
Each participating broadcaster assembles a five-member jury panel consisting of music industry professionals for the Eurovision Song Contest, ranking all entries except for their own. The modern incarnation of jury voting was introduced beginning with the 2009 contest, and as of 2023[update], the juries' votes constitute 50% of the overall result in the final alongside televoting.[30]
For the show's broadcast on RTS, various commentators have provided commentary on the contest in the Serbian language. At the Eurovision Song Contest after all points are calculated, the presenters of the show call upon each voting country to invite each respective spokesperson to announce the results of their vote on-screen.[40]
Several Kosovo Serb artists have competed in the Serbian national selections organised by RTS. Kosovo-born Nevena Božović represented Serbia in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest and twice in the Eurovision Song Contest, first as a member of Moje 3 in 2013 and later as a solo artist in 2019.
^In 2008 and 2009 the top nine countries in each semi-final as determined by televoting qualified automatically, with the tenth place determined based on the votes of the back-up juries among the remaining countries. This resulted in Croatia advancing to the final instead of Serbia in 2009.
^Due to technical issues, Tijana Lukić commentated from Belgrade during the first 15 minutes of the first semi-final.
^During the broadcast of the first semi-final on RTS 1, during the Polish performance, the broadcast was moved to RTS 2 with no warning, so the former could air the arrival ceremony of the Chinese president Xi Jin Ping. The broadcast was restored to RTS 1 following the end of the performance of Poland, performances from Iceland, Croatia, and the first part of the German performance. RTS 2 broadcast approximately 25 minutes of the semi-final.[95]
^"Teya Dora u finalu 68. Pesme Evrovizije" [Teya Dora in the final of the 68th Eurovision Song Contest]. ESC Serbia (in Serbian (Latin script)). 2024-05-07. Retrieved 2024-05-07.
^Ljuština, Stevan (24 April 2024). "Luke Black predao zastavu Teya Dori" [Luke Black passed the flag onto Teya Dora]. ESC Serbia (in Serbian (Latin script)). Retrieved 24 April 2024.
^Serbia, RTS, Radio-televizija Srbije, Radio Television of. "Eurovision: Europe Shine a Light" (in Serbian). Retrieved 11 May 2020.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
.jpg)
